Is Chocolate Still Recession Proof?

Market participants fear chocolate may be losing its lipstick effect in Europe and the U.S. after signs emerged that Europe’s sweet tooth for the chocolate-making ingredient cocoa may be in decline.

The continent’s second-quarter cocoa-grindings data — which measure the amount of processed cocoa and are a proxy for chocolate demand — slumped by almost 18% to 292,551 metric tons from the same period a year earlier, according to the Brussels-based European Cocoa Association. That’s the sharpest decline in 12 years for a quarter compared to the previous year’s quarter.